When a subscriber (customer) subscribes to a special service call processing service such as "800" or "900" (800/900), ENHANCED VOICE SERVICES (EVS), or VIRTUAL NETWORK (VNET) service in a telecommunication network, the subscriber needs to give an estimated forecast to the NETWORK MANAGEMENT CENTER (i.e. management of the network) of the special service's traffic. The management of the telecommunication network would then assign ports in the different network switches to which a called station (telephone(s) to answer the 800/900 calls) is associated. In other words, when someone calls the subscriber's 800/900 number, depending on the time of day, days of the week, etc., the call may be routed to one of a plurality of different called stations each of which may be associated with a different network switch in the telecommunication network. Thus, an 800/900 call made at 9 a.m. on Monday eastern standard time (EST) may be routed to a call station manned by operators of the subscriber in New York; whereas a call made to the same 800/900 number at 9 p.m. E.S.T. on the same day would be routed to a called station manned by operators of the subscriber at a network switch in San Francisco, for example.
In the instance where the subscriber has underestimated the traffic to his 800/900 number, for example at a certain time of day, there would be a heavy traffic load placed on a particular network switch as the volume of calls made to the subscriber's 800/900 number exceeds the capacity assigned to the subscriber at that network switch. Congestion at that network switch occurs as a result.
Since there are other called stations independent of the subscriber's call number connected to the same network switch, the congestion at the network switch, in addition to affecting calls made to the subscriber's call number, also affects the other subscribers by blocking some, if not all, of the calls directed to them. The traffic pattern of calls throughout the telecommunications network could also be affected since calls may have to be rerouted to other network switches.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,788,718, the traffic data to a subscriber's 800 number is compiled into a summary report and provided to the subscriber so that he can update the call processing logic under his control to reallocate calls directed to the his 800 number to different destination network switches to reduce call blocking. Yet oftentimes the reallocation of calls to different destinations being left in the hands of the subscriber may lead to undesirable results, as for example when the subscriber could actually reallocate a congestion to another switch. Moreover, from the viewpoint of the management of the telecommunication network, the ability to manage the traffic flow of calls throughout the network, taking into account but independent of the reallocation ability of those subscribers who subscribed to the special call processing service, is particularly important inasmuch as the management wants the final say in determining the traffic flow pattern within the network. Furthermore, the management is also interested in obtaining an overall view of traffic data within the network for all of the special call processing numbers.